Umphrey's McGee, a six-member, South Bend-formed sensation whose unrelenting momentum and complex riffs have been giving the jam band scene something to talk about for nearly a decade. They will be visiting Buffalo's Town Ballroom on April 19. Bassist Ryan Stasik was kind enough to answer some questions from Generation.
Generation: I wanted to ask you what you feel Umphrey’s McGee’s sound is. You guys are associated with the jam band circuit, but your sound seems to break that scene’s rubric a lot. How do you characterize UMG, personally?
Ryan Stasik: How do I personally characterize Umphrey’s McGee? I would say we are sort of an A.D.D., aggressive-progressive rock band. We’re pretty heavy on the improv, and we like to take a lot of left and right turns at odd times. Literally.
G: I just read the news about the Trancegression Festival. I was wondering if you had any details.
RS: I don’t know the details of which bands are doing it for sure. I know it’s us and the Disco Biscuits. I know that The Pharcyde has agreed. As far as late-night shows, I’m not really sure. It might be the Greyboy Allstars, or Galactic—get some of that late-night funk. But it should be a good time, a good collaboration. Everybody’s become really good friends within the groups, so we’re looking forward to it. A little Colorado rockin’.
G: Speaking of the Disco Biscuits, I know you guys have done collaborations with them in the past. I was wondering how that came to be.
RS: Well, we’ve always been friends; we hit it off. They used to come to Chicago back in like 2000, 2001, maybe even ‘99. We knew who they were, so we’d go check them out. And we were just always at the same festivals and everything so we just became friends. We do a lot of dates together. We actually just got together this weekend, we had a little collaboration between some of their band members—Aaron [Magner], and Jon [Gutwillig], and Mark [Brownstein]—and me, Brendan [Bayliss], and Kris [Myers].
G: Any thoughts of doing something out of the studio together?
RS: Everybody’s so busy with their own band and their own studio time, I don’t think that’s even been talked about. But that’s probably a good idea.
G: The Disco Biscuits have Camp Bisco, moe. has moe.down. Is there any chance we’ll see an Umphrey’s McGee-hosted festival in the near future?
RS: People have asked us that question a lot, and I think that eventually we will do that. I don’t think we’re at a point right now to really have our own and put in the type of work and effort to make it as good as we want it to be. So, with the amount of shows and amount of dates that we’re playing we’re going to hold off on that. But it’s definitely going to happen within the next few years, I would think.
G: You guys just had a new album come out, The Bottom Half. Is that title in reference to the fact it’s made up of a lot of material that didn’t make it onto Safety in Numbers?
RS: Yeah, absolutely. And it’s one of the main tunes that didn’t get on there, a tune called “The Bottom Half.” I think the artwork also depicts a little bit of a bottom half, too.
G: So why were some of those songs put on hold from being released from the studio for so long? A number of them have been in live rotation for months.
RS: We originally set out to do a double-disc with Safety in Numbers, and after going through all the information and all the songs we figured it would be stronger to make one record. And this is just the leftover material. We didn’t think it would make sense to put it onto a new record; that we’ve been playing this material for months and months, almost a year, some of them. So we decided to put it onto sort of a B-side, and then give a little insight to the listener on what exactly goes on behind the scenes in the studio, before the tracks become the actual tracks that are on the record, and make it a little interesting and fun for people who are really interested.
G: I have a question about one of those songs in particular, “Alex’s House.” You’ve been playing that song a lot.
RS: Well, it’s a new thing to play live, so anything’s that new we try to get under our fingers so it can hopefully develop into the form. It isn’t exactly complete. So, by playing it all the time we’re able to try out different things and then sit back and listen to it and say, “Okay, this kind of works, this doesn’t work.” That’s how a lot of our songs usually go, it’s just that this one happened to be on a B-side and we hadn’t exactly learned it live yet. It’s definitely different from what’s on the record.
G: Definitely. Speaking about working things out on the road, you guys play a lot of live shows compared to a lot of other bands. What’s your motivation to stay on the road?
RS: I don’t know, that’s how we’ve always done it. We’re a live touring band. Last year we did like 138 shows, which is a lot of shows, a lot of days on the road. That’s what we do, it’s where we make the majority of our money. I think this year we’re trying to play 105 shows, and keep it at that because you don’t want to get burned out. You want to do it so everything’s comfortable and you’re still at home so you can live another life.
G: Speaking about you personally, who were your primary inspirations when you were just starting out?
RS: Well, I listened to a lot of the big cats that everybody names, the Wootens, Pastorius, and Marcus Miller. But to be honest, growing up, when I listened to music I listened a lot to the heavier metal stuff and some of the grunge stuff through the ‘90s, like Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails, and Guns N’ Roses. Snoop Dogg and Dre came out, so I was into that kind of hip-hop. So that was also an influence, too, because I was listening to it all the time. But there’s obviously players that have been an influence for the gang, like Paul McCartney, or Sting and The Police, stuff like that that I might not even have really known that I was paying attention to them or what they were doing, but they were definitely an influence.
G: Do you think having some heavier rock influences sets you apart from other bands on the scene?
RS: I’m not really sure. I’m 30, and a lot of people that are my age, growing up listened to Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Guns N’ Roses. I just don’t know if they cite it as much as an influence. But they were definitely the popular bands that were around.
G: You actually started out on guitar, correct?
RS: No, piano. I was a piano player when I was a kid, took lessons. I bought a guitar in high school because my cousin played guitar and it was a little easier to transport. Pick up the chicks, you know.
G: So what prompted you to switch over to bass?
RS: When I got to college I was playing in a couple bands and switching around between bass and guitar. And then when Brendan and I formed a power-trio, he didn’t play bass, he played guitar. So I gave him my guitar and went out and bought a bass. I just decided I’d keep playing bass, and that’s kid of when it started. I wasn’t even fully committed, I thought maybe I’d still be playing guitar. But we had fun, playing covers and writing a few originals together, messing around. I started picking up a little speed and we expanded, and then I was like “Okay, it looks like I’m going to be a bass player here.”
G: So what kind of music are you listening to now?
RS: Right now? Right now I’m actually listening to Stevie Wonder, but Tool is probably my favorite band right now. I’ve been going back and listening to a lot of their old records. I like the new stuff, too, but the old stuff is really why I’ve always been a big fan. Definitely Marcus Miller’s work, as far as bass guitar stuff. I listen to a lot of his stuff. A little bit of everything, to be honest, but those two especially.
G: One last question. I couldn’t help but notice that the tickets for the Trancegression show are going on sale on April 20, at 4:20 in the afternoon. Do you have anything special planned for your April 20 show in Columbus?
RS: Not that I know of. I’m worried about tonight, getting prepared for that. But that’s Ohio State, huh? Maybe the “Notre Dame Fight Song” would be in order. But we’ll see. I don’t exactly celebrate 4/20 as a holiday, but I know some people do.
